YOUR HEART BREAKS - Tour EP - 2003 - CD-R

   This is not the first appearance of YOUR HEART BREAKS on the blog. For more info, you could look here or here or even here (kind of). This was my first introduction to the band though and I would blast it through my headphones while walking around in the cold of the small Midwestern college town where I used to live in 2004. I didn't know Clyde (the main songwriter and core member) that well then, but I agreed to quit my job and roadie for his other band for a month anyway. Sometimes I look back on that trip as a mistake, but most of the time I know that it wasn't because it solidified our friendship in many ways that might not have happened otherwise.
   On the tour, I would sit behind the merch table while oogles talked to me about their dog or people handed me a beer or a college student would hand me a check for a few hundred dollars. I would sell their band's music and sometimes people would pick up this YHB CD. I'd sit there and try to sell them on it while they looked at me skeptically. "Yeah, it's this broken hearted queer pop music...no, it's not folk-punk...no, it's not on Plan-It-X records....yeah, I know that Rymodee from THIS BIKE IS A PIPEBOMB is listed as a member but he only plays the harmonica on one song for about 45 seconds...but, anyway, YOUR HEART BREAKS is this really cool...huh? Yeah, I know Rymodee and his band..yeah, they're really nice....no...I, I don't want a CD-r of your folk punk bedroom project...yeah, I've toured with them.....so, anyway, this CD is like this cool pop band and....oh, yeah, there's a beer store right down the street. No, I don't have any extra beer for you but a tall can is only like $1.50 over there...okay, thanks, bye."
    Most of the time, kids would buy this YHB CD after seeing that Rymodee played harmonica on it and after I explained that he only played for a minimal amount of time. I would sit there and hope that they would get past that. I liked to imagine that we were coming into some of these small towns like Goldsboro, NC (where the band was asked to not use "curse words" at their show)  and passing along this nugget of queerness into a deeply religious military town. Like, maybe they listened to the words and discovered some new shit about themselves and didn't feel so alone. Maybe they started their own queer pop band and helped marines come out to each other while realizing that it's not really a bad thing to be gay around a bunch of really fit men. Maybe it helped them realize that they needed to get the fuck out of that town and never look back. Or maybe they just filed it away in a pile and never listened to it again.
   I like these songs a lot. I'm pretty sure it's the only time anyone has sang anything about the band NEW BAD THINGS.

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YOUR HEART BREAKS is still a very active band and only gets better. 

Clyde made an amazing movie called Torrey Pines and he'll be touring the US with it this fall and winter. 

DARK LION - Demo - Tape - 2003

   DARK LION almost didn't happen. The way I was told, Zak and Sean got together to play some music while they had both dropped anchor in Pensacola, FL. The two of them had never played music together and both were trying to cater to each others backgrounds with disastrous results. Zak had come up playing pop and noise freak out shit with PUPPY VS DYSLEXIA. Sean had already toured the world playing drums in GOOD CLEAN FUN. Adding those things together came out sounding like half a turd, as it was reported to me. Zak was about to give up and then he started playing off-the-cuff riffs. Sean left his comfort zone and decided to "go off." The results became the groundwork for DARK LION. Adding jailbird dreamboat, Sarah Derelict on vocals was the icing on the cake. Her lyrics were (are) incisive, direct and blunt. Pure hate was directed towards the cops, not because we're punks and we're supposed to hate the cops, but because she'd get fucked with by the cops over total bullshit. DARK LION existed during the reign of George W. Bush and that was evident in their output. The future and the present felt bleak as fuck, but I'm not gonna lie...it feels worse now.

   Vinyl Rites released this demo a couple of years ago on a 7" (you might as well click over and order it right now) along with a booklet of fawning praise (all deserved). Initially, I thought the praise was a little overblown but then I thought back to how bad 2003 felt...and I thought about how real DARK LION was at a time when bands weren't speaking directly about how fucked up everything felt. I only saw DARK LION a couple of times. Once was after playing a couple of shows on tour, performing in front of people I'd rather ignore than entertain. Those shows led me to seriously question what the fuck I was doing with my life. Leaving that realm and delving back into my comfort zone of dilapidated warehouses produced of dubious craftmanship gave me a sigh of relief. Seeing DARK LION play a 10-12 minute set to a room full of obvious freaks of society made me feel right at home again. Watching Sarah with her fist raised high and screaming "I try to work and I keep thinking of killing cops! I'm trying to talk to girls and I keep thinking of killing cops!" felt like victory. I didn't question anything and felt at home, even though I was 3000 miles away from where I lived. 

   Like any good band, DARK LION was too volatile to have any sort of longevity. The members went their separate ways, each still being genuine lifers.

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This tape is from the collection of Caroline Paquita

UKE OF PHILLIPS & ERIN TOBEY - "Live On The Phone" - Tape - 2005

     Ever since I was a kid, I've always loved the sound of AM radio, lo-fi recordings and the way that music sounds over the phone through those tinny speakers. Put me in a tour van driving through the middle of the US at 2 am and I will guarantee that the radio will be tuned in to Coast To Coast AM. If that's not available, I'll be scanning the AM radio stations anyway. I also love it when any band has a sample of music being played over an answering machine. Once, an old friend called my house when she was at an X show and held the phone by her side for most of the show. My friends and I put it on speaker-phone and danced in my bedroom. It sounded amazing. So, imagine my delight when I stumbled across the radio show, "Phoning It In", which is comprised entirely of musicians calling in to the radio show and playing their songs over the phone!  

   The radio show ran from 2005-2011 and featured artists ranging from DANIEL JOHNSTON to DANIEL HIGGS to BILLY CHILDISH to SARAH DOUGHER to JULIE DOIRON to USAISAMONSTER to everything in between. Their archive is insane and impressive (and can be found here)(and here's another link)

   This tape compiles two separate 2005 performances by ERIN TOBEY and UKE OF PHILLIPS. Erin plays her otherworldly, nimble-fingered songs over a land line from the back room of a now-defunct punk warehouse called The Ark in Gainesville, FL (Fun Fact: A fitness club has now opened up in that warehouse that once hosted so many punk shows and debaucherous parties. That club is called...wait for it...The Ark). The tinny sound of the phone gives her songs a beautiful, faraway feel that is warm and enveloping. You can find more music by Erin here and a lot of her fantastic art here. 

   UKE OF PHILLIPS phone in from tour during a stop at MARS in Missoula, MT. They alternate between their gutter country/folky songs and just being totally "out there". On this recording, the group consists of Dan Beckman, Matt Beckman and A.M.O.S. Shit gets really weird at some points. It's cool. You can find way more stuff by UKE right here and you can find newer stuff here. Keep up with their rare appearances on their blog.

    Not so fun fact: When I went to digitize this tape, I accidentally put it in the wrong deck and the stereo immediately chewed up the analog tape and mangled it beyond all repair. I just looked at it helplessly and then just nailed the damn thing to my wall. Erin Tobey was nice enough to email over the tracks of both artists for you to enjoy in the digital realm. So, thanks Erin!

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TUBE SMUGGLERS - Demo - Tape - 2002

For this tape, I decided that I wanted one of the members of the band to tell me all about 'em, because I know next to nothing. I asked my good friend, Rymodee to write up something and he obliged in the best way possible....through the US postal service...even though I could bike to his house in 15 minutes if I wanted to. So, here's Modee to tell you everything you ever (or never) wanted to know about the TUBE SMUGGLERS

(Click to enlarge...yeah, yeah, I typed it out too in case your eyesight kinda sucks like mine)

   I haven't heard or even seen the TUBE SMUGGLERS tape in several years, so when I saw it online recently, I was surprised that it had been labeled "Florida folk punk". Listening now, I understand, and I might even call it that myself but back then, well, it wasn't what we were going for. 

  This one day, Chris showed on on our front lawn. I think he was heartbroken, but I could be making that up. My partner at the time, Jen and I said he could stay and get all put back together again and things seemed swell. 

    Jen and I could get pretty lit and play Irish songs on a firewood piano til dawn, and we worked 100 hours a day, at least, but somehow, a few weeks later, we noticed we had also written a few songs. All of them about cooking or murder. Chris on guitar, me on mandolin and Jen on a fucked up, homemade stand-up bass (which terrified her). 

  We looked up one day and realized that all of a sudden we had 7 people living in our house and they were all in our band. . A spit jug player,washboards & castanets, guitar, mandolin, fucked up bass, spoons, saw, a hammered dulcimer with steel pipes instead of strings and a nose flute.

   I don't remember where the 8 track recorder came from, but what I do know is that none of us really figured it out. We ended up doing each track one at a time with headphones, and there are a few terrible spots on the tape that we should have done over, but it took a pretty long time, and one of us was on the verge of a mental explosion, due to cramped quarters. 

   Anyway, we recorded it , played two shows (one being a house band feud, which I have come to realize happens in Pensacola much more than anywhere else.)

    This tape is really great if you can bear to make it through to "Gold Rush", where Samantha's lovely baritone still makes me laugh and cry at the same time. 

Chris Clavin - Guitar

Rymodee - Mandolin

Hannah Jones - Washboard, Castanets

Jen Knight - Stand up bass

Samantha Jane - Spit Jug

Mikey Hotsauce - Lead Vox

Teddy Ted - Saw, Spoons, Hammered Dulcimer, Nose Flute

   We disbanded almost immediately afterwards. All of Chris' friends who traveled to our home in his time of need felt their job was complete. Mikey put out a handful of copies on those tiny CD's and I heard some crew of New Orleans punks were making bootleg tapes, which was fine by us. 

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JOE SMITH - Tape - 2001

   This is another band that I feel like I could write a book about: the internal dramas, the external dramas, the lasting friendships it created, the jail time, the utter depression, the failure, the success (however one defines success) and so much more. I won't go that far though.
   To begin, Joe Smith is a man from north Georgia who spent a lot of time sleeping on our couches, drinking a lot of beer and playing guitar every waking second of the day. When he wasn't playing in bands (like DRILLER KILLERS and THE SPADES), he was usually being misunderstood and berated by his friends. Unsurprisingly, he moved away from Chattanooga and settled in Gainesville, FL for a while. In his short time there, he started a band that shattered all of the preconceived notions of his friends back home as he delivered hook after hook-filled song. He called that band JOE SMITH and wasted no time recording their songs and setting up a tour. The cast was rounded out by Cinque on bass, Bill on drums and Ski on 2nd guitar (not on the recording though).
   The songs, I believe, were intended to be released by No Idea Records in some form, but like most bands with Chattanooga roots, many of the usual (and unusual) trials and tribulations kept the band from staying together long enough to see that through. The night before their first (and only) tour, Bill's back went out and he dropped off of the tour. Never ones to be discouraged, they moved Ski to drums and left town as scheduled. In Pensacola, FL, they ran into me and talked me into jumping in the van with them as their third (!!!) roadie. That night, they played an unforgettable generator show on a beach by the tracks along with THIS BIKE IS A PIPEBOMB and a then unknown 2-piece band called AGAINST ME. When TBIAPB said "This is a new song called 'Trains And Cops'", a freight train started whizzing down the tracks, as if on cue. The train passed by for the entirety of the song and as the last note of the guitar was fading out, the last car flew by. It was perfect. That night, Cinque and I walked around town, pushing each other in a wheelchair and came upon hundreds of beers in a dumpster. We filled up the wheelchair, giggling, and headed back to the punk house with our bounty.
   Tour went on and a couple of days later, we found ourselves at a house show in Atlanta with a ton of skinheads. Early in the night, I found myself alone with one of the skins by the keg. As I was filling my cup, he asked "Do you guys have any good tapes in your van? ....Maybe some SKREWDRIVER or any other white power stuff?" I found myself visibly shaking and thinking "Great, we have to kill these people." I looked up and the skin was laughing. "I'm just fuckin' with you, man. We're not racist. Do you have any good mix tapes?"
   The rest of the night turned out to be pretty fun and like any good punk show, there were punks passed out on the lawn by the end of the night. I'm not sure why this happened (well, actually I do), but I ended up falling asleep on the sidewalk right by the busy street. I was rustled awake a short time later and opened my eyes to red and blue flashing lights. I was looking into Joey's face though and not the face of a cop. Joey urged me to go back to sleep in the van. I crawled into the loft and fell asleep again after taking two bites of a burrito (also provided by Joey). I awoke in the morning to find out that the cops were summoned by an alarm set off in the school across the street when Ski and Heather (our new friend who lived at the house) decided to break in. Now, they were in jail and we needed to get to Chattanooga. There was talk of calling the whole thing off, but then we got a message from Ski saying that we should just move on without him and I could play drums. So, we jumped back in the van and I learned the songs by listening to this tape over and over on the 2 hour drive to Chattanooga. We played that night and it was 100% mediocre. Tour continues! I ended up playing for the rest of the tour without serious injury, jail time or any other serious maladies.
   Here's the rest in short sentence fragments with little to no detail, because like I said earlier, I could write a book about this tour: Long drives at night while drinking beer. Joey only being able to ride in the van if he had a 40 and a Gameboy. Total crushing depression. Cody driving for the entire tour while drinking 64 ounces of soda daily. Ed providing words of wisdom and, when that failed, tackling me. More total crushing depression. Watching AGAINST ME in Whitesburg, KY and hearing Cinque say "This band is going to be absurdly famous". It's weird to me that I can barely even remember where we went. It was all caught up in a haze of the heaviest sadness I had ever felt (from the uncertainties of my future mixed with a quarter life crisis) and a tidal wave of dumpstered swill.
   By the end of the tour, the band was basically dead. Back in Gainesville, we played a homecoming show with THE FLESHIES and then Cinque and I hitched up to Chattanooga (basically making it in one ride with an insane, speed-addled trucker who named his first born d'Artagnan, after his D&D character's name). Joey stayed for a bit and then drifted back up to north Georgia. Ed stayed in Gainesville and you can still find him there, being completely awesome. Cody drifted up to his homeland of Fargo and now, fittingly, drives for a living....and demolishes cars, I think. Ski got outta jail, lived in Atlanta for a while to deal with court stuff, moved back to G'ville and then moved up to Minneapolis where he now stays. Heather picked me up hitchhiking a couple of months after this tour and had absolutely no recollection of who I was. Now, we're great friends.
    I can't listen to these songs without thinking about that time. Joey far surpassed all of our expectations and wrote incredibly catchy, heartfelt, beautiful punk songs about our lives and the great people we lost too early in the game. I wish that these songs had gotten the proper release that they deserved, but it never happened. I hope that now you'll be able to enjoy it as much as I have over the years.

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"Everyone I know has given a piece of their heart"

Thanks to Joey, Cinque and Bill for writing these songs.

Thanks to Joey, Cinque, Ski, Ed, Cody and Dutchess for getting me in the van and changing my life. 

Members/roadies have also been in FROZEN TEENS, RATS REST, RADON, ASTRID OTO, LOVE YOU DEAD, FORCED VENGEANCE, ASSHOLE PARADE, HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE, CORTEZ THE KILLER and a hundred more.

p.s. first song is a little cut off in the beginning because that's how my tape is. 

THE DEAD C MEN - Demo - Tape - 1995

Photo by Angie Elliott.

    Way back when I first started doing this blog, I had a few things in mind. I wanted to document a lot of the early Region Rock scene along with overlooked southeastern US punk bands. I also had other motives in mind that I didn't talk about, but fell into the same mode of thinking. I wanted to track down a couple of tapes by really forgotten southern punk bands that still managed to rattle around my brain after all these years. One of those bands was the ANGEL BB'S from Mississippi and the other was THE DEAD C MEN from Florida. I'm still working on the former but the latter came into my hands (or inbox, more accurately) without any effort at all. Friend of the blog, Adam seemed to psychically intuit that this tape needed to be part of the history and sent the digital tracks over to me. He didn't know that I've been ravenously searching for any mention of this band anywhere for the past 10+ years. 10+ years of fruitlessly searching through endless articles about the DEAD C with absolutely nothing to show for it. All that time, this tape has been sitting in Adam's stuff. 

   Back in 1995, I went to a lot of punk shows with my good friend, Angie (we're still good friends, even though we haven't seen each other in way-too-long. Hi Angie!) in Birmingham, AL. Even though I played in a crappy band, I didn't really feel like I was a part of anything bigger or that I was making any kind of mark in the world by plodding away on my $30 bass. A lot of the bands that came to town were really great but so far out of the realm of what I was playing with my friends (meaning, those bands could structure a rad song) that it felt unattainable. While watching AUS ROTTEN, OI POLLOI, BIKINI KILL, TEENGENERATE, OBLIVIANS and BUZZOVEN, it felt hopeless to continue playing music as a teenager in the 90's. 

     One day, THE DEAD C MEN played a sparsely attended show to almost no one at the local record store, American Beat and (probably unbeknownst to them) opened up a new world to me. It's a well worn story in the annals of punk-dom, but no less important every time it happens to anyone. The people in the band were just like me: awkward, acne ridden punk teenagers who had to look at their guitars when they played. Their songs fell apart and they struggled to keep it all together. Still, their songs were catchy and at the end of their set, they gave tapes away for free. I'm not sure if I just never got one or my tape broke immediately, but I've been looking for it ever since. This band provided the inspiration for me that I could travel around and play music without being well known. They showed me that you can just do things cheaply and give stuff away for free. Somehow, the guitar hook to their first song has been rattling around in my head for all these years and it's so nice to finally have a copy of it. 

    Many listeners will find a sound that's hopelessly mired in the 90's and that's fine. It was the 90's. The first song is a legitimately great song with an unforgettable guitar hook (for me, literally). The other four songs don't have the same energy or inspiration as the first one, but they're still pretty good....except maybe the 2nd song. The 4th song is basically the same hook as the one on the first song....I guess when something works, you just roll with it. Thanks to Adam and Angie for digging up artifacts (Angie is used to digging up artifacts in the ground in Turkey, so I'm sure digging through a box in her house is much easier). Thanks to the DEAD C MEN for existing for a brief time and bringing your band to the record store. It meant a lot to me.

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Now, who's got that ANGEL BB'S tape?

P.S. If you're in the Bay Area tonight, I am Dj-ing between bands at a punk show at the Knockout in SF. The bands are Rat's Rest (from KC, MO), True Mutants, Great Apes and Bad Liar. 

"Help Me, I'm Trapped in a Ford Festiva" - Compilation - Tape - 1997

    I grew up in a tiny town in the middle of Alabama and discovered punk when I was in 6th grade through a tape of the MINUTEMEN's "Double Nickels on the Dime." Over the years, I tried to start bands with people who either really didn't want to be in a punk band or just had drastically different ideas of what a punk band was. The day after I graduated high school, I moved 108 miles away to a different small town called Huntsville. I lived in my car for those first couple of months and came to discover a whole new world of punk where people were actually playing the loud, fucked up, vibrant music that I wanted to be playing at that time in my life. It was perfect for me. I met people who put out their own records and set up their own shows in houses, parking lots and thrift stores. It was inspiring, to say the least. Within just a few months, I was playing in my own band and going on tour all over the southeast, making friends that I still have to this day. At the time, I wanted to make a compilation tape to show what was going on in my town (and where it had come from) so that other people would know how awesome it was, but honestly, I don't know if this tape ever reached people outside of Alabama.
   The comp starts off with RICE HARVESTER and THE CACA WOMEN FROM URANUS. I've already written about them, so you can click those links above if you're curious. Next up is THE REFILLS, who were a short lived band from the area that consisted of Neil (from JOEY TAMPON AND THE TOXIC SHOCKS and 565 BURNOUTS), Ben (from RICE HARVESTER, SUCKERPUNCH and now in PINE HILL HAINTS) and Bill Conflict (who did and still plays in RANDOM CONFLICT). They played fucking tough, straight ahead punk that was informed by THE FREEZE and D.O.A. I loved them when they were around and their song "Bleed" on this tape still holds up today.

RICE HARVESTER on the 4th of July, 1998. San Pedro, CA.

   Next on the tape is AOA, which was originally a home recording project by my friends Blair and Ramesh. They would get together and record hours of MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT (and FAT DAY) inspired noise and weirdness at their houses. After a while, they would come over and kind of force me to play anything in their band, like a drum on a bed or some cans. They had tapes and tapes of this stuff (one of which got stuck in my car stereo for months so that it was the only thing I could ever listen to. When I finally removed it, it destroyed the tape and the stereo...a week or so later, the brakes failed at 3 am and I almost totaled a cop car, but that's a different story altogether.) On this recording, we sorta became a kinda normal punk band for a second. I think I played drums, but I also think I played guitar sometimes. Ramesh played bass and sang. Blair sang and played the keyboard maybe. I think a guy named Pube switched up instruments with me. It was a weird time, but I still like "Black Flag is Boring" and the theme song.

AOA in my room. 1996.

   SHITHEAD JONES is a fukkin punk band and you can read all about their saga here. After that is THE GRUMPIES, who weren't technically an Alabama band, but they played there so often that  one might think that they lived there. All of their songs on here (minus one) were later re-recorded for their LP on Recess Records. These early versions are pretty great and it also includes a ripping cover of "Kiss Me Deadly" by Lita Ford.  You can find their demo and other stuff here.

THE GRUMPIES playing in a storefront in Florence, AL.

  GARY COLEMAN BAND were just Blair and Ramesh from AOA playing really minimal stuff. This song was recorded in a porn shop in N Huntsville and is honestly one of my favorite things ever put on tape. The side ends with THE SMEGMAGICIANS, which is my high school punk band that I restarted just to finish out this side of the tape. It sucks. The first song is an AOA cover. I played guitar and sang while my friend Harry played drums. I wouldn't let him hear the song or practice it before recording. The second song is just me playing guitar and drums...and actually it's not too bad.
  Side 2 kicks off with a live set from SHITBOY FROM OUTERSPACE, a band I have already covered here (it's the same set too). They are followed up by the always great 565 BURNOUTS, who have their own entry right here.

A later incarnation of 565 BURNOUTS playing at American Beat Records in Birmingham, AL.

   JOEY TAMPON AND THE TOXIC SHOCKS are up next, playing three songs that I'm pretty sure never appeared on other recordings. Well, two of the songs were definitely on a record, but not these recordings. The first song was never released on anything and it's not that good (but I'm biased...I was in the band). I have no clue where or why we recorded these songs. It could have been recorded in my bedroom or in a "real" studio. No idea. You can find more by the band here.

JOEY TAMPON AND THE TOXIC SHOCKS playing an 8 year old's birthday party in St Mary's, GA. Note that Neil is smoking.

   Joey and Neil from the TOXIC SHOCKS were also in CHEESE ASS CHRIST. They weren't from Alabama. They were from Georgia. You can find possibly everything you ever wanted to know about them here. 

   One of Alabama's first hardcore bands (possibly the very first) was THE KNOCKABOUTS, who come up next on this tape. Their songs on here come from their demo tape-turned -EP from 1982. (well, the demo is from '82. The EP is from '95). You can find more info about them here. The only thing I want to add is that I talked to Ken (owner of Prank Records who released their EP) about them and he said that he might release an LP collection in the future. I guess there's a lot more songs laying around. He's obviously not in a big hurry, but I would be excited if that project ever saw the light of day, Fun fact: The title of this comp ("Help Me, I'm Trapped in a Ford Festiva") comes from THE KNOCKABOUTS. My band (JT and the TOXIC SHOCKS) used to go on tour in my Ford Festiva (with all of our equipment, yes), which is one of the tiniest cars you could possibly own in the 90's. We listened to THE KNOCKABOUTS a lot. When we would listen to their song "Fast Pulse" (included here), we would sing that line instead of the KNOCKABOUTS-penned line of "Help me, I'm trapped in a human body!!"

   MENACE (not really sure if they ever realized there was a classic punk band called MENACE) was a band of teenage punk kids from the burbs who could barely hold it together, but held it together just enough to belt out this rough recording on a boom box. I think I only saw them once and that was only because I drove out to one of their mom's houses in south Huntsville for a band practice. I could be wrong though because I think I have a flyer for them somewhere. One weird thing about this band is that my friend Ramesh sang for them and did not play an instrument, which is ridiculous because he was already becoming a good bass player at that point. Still, you can listen to their song "AUO994" and realize why they got him to sing. 

   THE MACK was somewhat the black sheep of the Huntsville punk family. I believe 50% of that was self-imposed and the other 50 was just punk kids not wanting to admit that they liked pop-punk at some point in their lives. Either way, THE MACK played undeniably tuneful and upbeat pop-punk that was not very popular among the local scene, but I'll bet that they would have been a hit if they had ever managed to go on a tour or two in the mid-90's. Now, you can download this and relive your secret (or not-so-secret) pop-punk past. I will admit now that these songs are good. (Fun facts: THE MACK was the only local band of this era to have an online presence at the time. They are also the only band I've ever "auditioned" for as a drummer...for which I was denied for not being good enough.)

  I'm not talking about the next band. Fuck it. They were from Florida. I was the only one who knew who they were. The first song made me want to learn to play drums. The second song sucks ass.
   15E was an insane sounding punk band that worked as a precursor to THE SLACKERS, SHITBOY FROM OUTERSPACE and most of the crop of 90's punk from Huntsville. The members were Jason (SHITBOY and later XPIA), Joey (JOEY TAMPON, THE SLACKERS, RADIOACTIVES, 3D's, many more and later a born again Baptist preacher), and Mike (SEWER PUNKS and others that flew off my radar). They named the band after the apartment number of the place they shared. This recording comes from a live set at the Tip Top in north Huntsville where the band constantly harangues the audience for being shitty people. Punk. This is all I know about them. They were before my time in that town. If anyone has their demo tape, I will gladly take it.
   The tape ends with local greats THE SLACKERS and THE JAWAS. Everything you might ever want to know about both of those bands can be found here and here. The closing sample is possibly one of the best samples ever committed to tape, in my opinion.

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Re-uploaded 2013

P.S. There's 65 tracks total in this download.
This one's for Ramesh, who was always a fan and supporter of Alabama punk bands.

Now, here's some flyers from that era.

I think this is one of the first punk flyers I ever made, with help from Jason Shitboy. We used to have illegal shows at the Jaycee's Fairgrounds, which was just a gazebo in a parking lot. Sometimes, we paid $100 to use the space. Other times, we just went in and had the show without permission. I think this was one of the illegal times. THE DUMBSHITZ was my old band from Birmingham that I had quit by this point. They didn't show up for this show. Here's a video of them playing in Birmingham after I quit.

This was my birthday show, also at the fairgrounds. PROPERTY was a mainstay of the Huntsville punk scene and I'm confused as to why they're not on the tape. THEE AUTOBOTS was a later band spearheaded by Jack THE MACK that incorporated sax into the pop-punk world.

Great show for $3. Gorin's was an ice cream shop downtown that was dumb enough to let us have punk shows. 

All local bands at Gorin's Flyer by Blair Menace. BLOODY HOLLY was mostly improv-violence. Blair, Jay Kaos and I wore bloody dress shirts and glasses while assaulting people, sonically. I can't even begin to explain the CATATONICS to you. If I can ever dig up their tape (doubtful), it will have its own thing on here.

Another local show at Gorin's. THE SHIZNICS never recorded and I don't remember much about them. THE PANIC BUTTONS should have been on the comp but never got any music to me. They will be featured on the blog one day. Those guys went on to play in THOMAS FUNCTION.

RICE HARVESTER's 1st show. One of the TOXIC SHOCKS' last. PINK COLLAR JOBS were one of the best bands from the southeast in the 90's.

Local times, minus THE GRUMPIES, who might as well have been local. Art by Marsh. Flyer by me.

THIS BIKE IS A PIPEBOMB - Comedy Tape - 2004

   My thoughts on the music of TBIAPB have already been documented before, but if you missed it, I'm not a big fan. That said, I am a big fan of the actual people in this band. I believe that their hearts are made of gold (not literally) and their ideals are unfuckwithable. A friend of mine referred to them as "one of the worst bands of all time", which I will respectfully disagree with. Sure, they helped pave the way for one of the worst musical genres of all time (folk-punk), but they didn't mean to do that and they felt burdened by the path that they were on. When I would go on tour with them, we would drink whiskey drinks in the van and complain about the caliber of opening bands at their shows. We would discuss how it's important to try and support young musicians as they are starting out, but we just wished there would just be a fucking punk band on the show...and not a timid kid playing a uke while staring at the ground. I remember getting to a show in Tucson and seeing a burly looking hardcore band set up. I got excited. When they played their cover of GORILLA BISCUITS' "New Direction"  Rymodee and I were right up front singing along.
    What does this have to do with this tape? Well, nothing really, but I don't think TBIAPB is the worst band of all time. Far from it. Have you heard....well, nevermind....There's a lot worse bands out there.

   This tape was recorded without their knowledge when they played very drunkenly at the first Plan-It-X Fest back in 2004. I was working "security" for the fest and I was in charge of making sure that all of the bands from the south didn't get too drunk to play....and to make sure they weren't drinking openly in the venue. What that translated to is that I would go backstage and drink with the bands for a while and then say "Oh yeah, don't get caught doing this." The band was given one hour to play and as evidenced by this tape, they talked for a full 30 minutes of that. All the music was cut out and you're just left with their often funny stage banter. I still believe that VENOM and IRON LUNG provides better laughs, but I still find some parts of this to be really funny. Regardless of how I feel about most of their music, you can bet that I will be front and center (or just drinking their drinks when they are onstage) when TBIAPB embarks on their upcoming West Coast tour in a couple of weeks.

Download

Tape originally released by I Win Tapes.

Something important to remember is that they were playing in front of 600-700 people.

LOS CANADIANS - 4 Track Recordings - Tape - 1995

   I've been holding back on posting this tape for a while because I felt sort of conflicted about it. To me, a LOS CANADIANS without Buddha on guitar and mostly devoid of Ivy's singing is not really LOS CANADIANS. In reality, it is LOS CANADIANS because the band says it is. Also, I'm not sure if they ever intended to have these recordings put out into the world, but here ya go.
   The band recorded this during a short time period when Buddha had been replaced (that's totally the wrong word...you can never replace Buddha) by Bill Beltone on guitar. Let's look at it this way. Remember when you were in school and you would come in to class to find a substitute teacher and you would think "cool....we're not doing shit today." Remember that feeling about how things would feel a little "off" and abnormal, but the day just kinda flowed awkwardly along anyway? That is exactly how this recording feels to me. This isn't meant as a slam against the rest of the band or Bill. I love THE BELTONES and I think Scott and Timmy can do no wrong, musically, but this isn't the best recording...BUT, like I said, I don't think we were ever supposed to ever hear this.
   Most of this was recorded when their singer, Ivy was still living in California and getting ready to return to Florida. The vocals are primarily commandeered by Timmy and Bill. On "False Prophet", Ivy has returned and graced us with her beautiful, raspy vocals. On "First Song" (reportedly the first song that Scott and Timmy wrote together, according to Erick Lyle), Ivy emotionally sings the song without lyrics, which is still the way she figures out the melodies to songs today. You can hear the band playfully poke fun at her towards the end. The tape closes out with the funny "Song That Confused Bill", which also appears on the LOS CANADIANS split CD with CHICKENHEAD that I posted a while back (highly recommended as a better place to start off if you've never heard this amazing band).
  This may appeal to a few LOS CANADIANS fans or may even appeal to people who have never heard the band and don't know what they're missing. I don't know. If there's anything I've learned from doing this blog, it's that I can't account for anyone's taste. Enjoy, my friends.

Download LOS CANADIANS

The picture above was taken from Chuck Loose's old zine, SHEBANG and shows the band playing in '95 at an illegal generator show in the Everglades. See if you can spot me. It's a week after I met these wonderful people.
Tape is from the Scam Magazine files.

ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST - Tape - 1999

   I never got to see ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST....in fact, hardly anyone did. They only existed for a few months in the year of 1999 and only played 3 or 4 shows in their hometown of Gainesville, FL.Scott and Timmy had played guitar and bass respectively in THE BREAKUPS before that band met its inevitable demise. Afterwards, Scott switched over to the drums and they got their friend, Mike to play guitar and sing a little bit. Thus, the band with the confusing moniker of ELECTRONIC RAINFOREST was born. They managed to bust out 6 or 7 originals and a cover or two. They recorded this quick tape on the same 4 track used to record both THE CRUMBS and THE BELTONES demos. The band broke up within a matter of months after Scott left Florida to settle in the Bay Area. Timmy and Mike forged ahead, playing the bulk of these songs with their friends Cinque and Ski after they all got together to form HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE....and that, my friends, is all there is.

Download

Thanks to Scott Baldwin for most of this info.

ALACHUA BANDITS - Tape - 1993

   ALACHUA BANDITS were a fuckin' band of wild men and one wild woman from the Ft Lauderdale/Miami area. Their singer Tom Foote, guitarist Cinque and drummer Quannah had all recently moved from their home state of Michigan to sunny Florida. They teamed up with bassist, Becky Funn and cranked out this fast, ragged hardcore that was carried by Cinque's penchant for cramming as many chords as he could into one song and Tom's perfectly fucked, broken glass voice. I really, truly don't have much information about this band at all. I asked Cinque if he knew any details about any of this and he said he doesn't really remember anything...not even any of the song titles. Erick Lyle says "The band name came from a trip to Dalton, GA that ended with a breakdown outside of Gainesville in Alachua, FL." From traveling with these guys throughout the years, I'm sure they spent a lot of that time shoplifting booze and eating fried chicken out of a dumpster.
  Members of this band later aspired to greatness with the SPAWN SACS and living in the fabled Chattanooga punk house known as Anarchtica.

ALACHUA BANDITS download
re-uploaded Feb 2016

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

CHICKENHEAD / LOS CANADIANS - Split CD - 2002(?)

   I never heard of CHICKENHEAD until a year after they had already broken up, so I never got to see their singer Chuck Loose set himself on fire. I never got to see their guitarist, Iggy running around in boxer shorts and spitting beer in people's faces. I only had their 7" from 1993 to listen to and wonder what kind of fucked up people write these fuckin' punk songs about stealing cars, drinking Robotussin and not having a future. My bandmate, Joey Tampon would always bring his CHICKENHEAD demo tape on tour an only play it in the middle of the night on long drives. The warbly fucked sound of that tape was so alien to me at the time, but so full of life, nihilism and decay. I got their 7" and spent many wasted nights blasting it in the park in downtown Huntsville: "Do you like my car?! It was free because I STOLE IT!!"

CHICKENHEAD playing on the moon. Photo by Josie, I think.

   CHICKENHEAD started in 1991 in Miami with Chuck Loose on vocals, Iggy Scam on guitar and Buddha on drums. They put out the aforementioned, ramshackle demo tape before adding Scott on drums and moving Buddha to bass. Their shows could be chaotic and fucked. Chairs got thrown, bottles got broken and beer got spilled. They went on a couple of tours around the US that seemed to be funded solely off of crime and scams. After routinely getting banned from clubs for silly offenses like spitting beer on people, destroying mics and setting themselves on fire, the band called it quits in 1993 after a show in Berkeley, CA.

   LOS CANADIANS, also from Miami, evolved out of CHICKENHEAD and a short-lived band called THE TRI-RAILS. Buddha and Scott (from CHICKENHEAD) played guitar and drums respectively. They were joined by a wizardly bass player named Timmy and Ivy on vocals. LOS CANADIANS and most of CHICKENHEAD either lived at or hung out in an abandoned 13-story hotel in Biscayne Bay called "The Mutiny", which is where a few of LOS CANADIANS' early songs were written. They played their first show in an abandoned, hurricane-damaged warehouse outside of Miami in 1992. LOS CANADIANS wrote fast, quick tuneful songs about alienation, pain and drugs. I didn't "get" them at first, but they soon became indispensable in my life.

LOS CANADIANS on the moon. Photo by Josie.

   I met Iggy and Ivy at the same time in the parking lot of a life-changing all day punk show in Chattanooga in 1995 (across the street from Wally's at McCallie and Holly). The next week, I played a generator show in the Everglades that Iggy set up with LOS CANADIANS, THE STUN GUNS, AGAINST ALL AUTHORITY and many more. Over the years, I got closer to these people and this music that provided so much inspiration to me. Iggy (now Erick), Ivy and Buddha have maintained a close musical partnership over the years that lasts to this day, writing countless, timeless classic punk songs.

  This CD was put out by This Here Records out of Chattanooga and compiles almost all of the recorded output for both bands. One of my favorite things on here is the acoustic, early version of LOS CANADIANS'  "Never Can" recorded in the Mutiny. It's my favorite song by them and I would be happy hearing as many alternate versions of it as possible, Chuck Loose still lives in Miami, went on to play in THE CRUMBS and now plays drums in the DUST TRAPS. Timmy is currently hiding out in the middle of the country and plays bass in HELLO SHITTY PEOPLE. Buddha has been in so many bands that I can't even keep track of them all. He currently lives in Chattanooga and plays guitar in the FASTBOYS (they have a new record that you can get from Young Monster) and HIDDEN SPOTS. Scott went on to play in THE HIDDEN RESENTMENTS with Iggy. He now lives in the East Bay and plays drums in CITY DELUXE. Iggy and Ivy went on to play in a few bands together over the years, like MIAMI, ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT (with me!) and they are currently in BLACK RAINBOW (with me and our friend, Morgan..next show in March in SF). I think that covers it.

Download Mutiny in Miami - CHICKENHEAD / LOS CANADIANS
updated May 2013

CHICKENHEAD photo by Josie, I think.

Sorry if this is a little scattered. I'm getting over some wild sickness and can't think straight.

LETHAL YELLOW - "Declaration Of Retardation" - 7" EP - 1984

    This one is gonna be short today since I spent most of last night puking all over my bathroom (an activity I despise) due to an unknown illness. I feel just peachy today...I can barely sit up and thinking hurts.
   These teenage punks from Miami probably spent a lot of time puking all over the place as well, especially if they were actually ingesting the amount of cheese that they sing about. There are TWO songs on here about eating grilled cheese sandwiches and Velveeta. Other subjects include cockroaches and being a pain in the ass. They're teenagers in the 80-'s...it didn't get too deep.  My personal favorite is "The Obnoxious Song", which is a perfect example of sloppy, young, tuneful punk rock from the 80's during a time when punk was just beginning to go down the tubes of the crossover toilet. At the end, as the song is fading out, you can hear their young singer asking "Did you hear me suffering?" It's my favorite part, since I know him now and that kind of sarcasm is something he is known for. It's good to know that it was still there at 15 or 16 years of age.
   One person in this band went on to be in one of my all-time favorite bands, but I can't really tell you who it is, out of respect for him. You see, he hates this record. Hates it. I heard that he once tried to rip a tape out of the boombox and destroy it because it was on a mix that I made. I want to let him hear my 15-year-old punk band and let him know that things could be much. much worse. I think this record is excellent, so download it now in case he asks me to delete this.

Download LETHAL YELLOW
Updated 2013

Thank to MRR for having this in their archives and letting me copy it.

Also, if you really want to know his name and later band, I'm sure you can figure it out. The rest of the internet isn't as forgiving as me.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES FROM DAY ONE - Tape - 1997

   Iggy Scam put out this tape in 1997 and it brought to life a ton of bands that I had only read about (mostly in SCAM, the zine) or heard about by word of mouth. It was a revelation to hear real, live songs by bands with names like DARVIS BROWN AND THE SMOKE ASSES, VANBUILDERASS, LES TURDZ, and KREAMY LECTRIC SANTA. It was more than that. It was fucking exciting and it changed my life. It helped to open up my life to a whole world of complete and utter badasses who mostly have remained that way through the years. This is where I first heard "Revolution Sound" by THE STUN GUNS, where I first heard THE DRILLER KILLERS (who inspired me to make my own shirt with a Sharpie), where I was introduced to the genius of "Can't Take It Away" by THE MORONS and so, so much more. "Stupid Fresh" by KLS still sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. This is also where I first heard THE FUNYONS, a band powered mostly by one man named Steve who plays his simple-yet-insanely-catchy songs only on the streets, which I've always respected immensely. You may also know Steve as the principal songwriter behind ONION FLAVORED RINGS, who have been also churning out quality pop-punk for 10 years, even though they have slowed down in recent years. The cool thing is that Steve still plays FUNYONS songs unannounced on the streets of San Francisco all the time.
   This tape proclaimed "30 bands! 51 songs from The Region!" and that term (the region) has stuck around for all these years and has evolved into "region rock". But what the fuck is "region rock" and why should you care? I can't answer the latter, but I can tell you that the term "The Region" was coined by Cinque Adams. It  is loosely defined as an area in the southeastern US that is shaped like a triangle with points in Dogtown, AR, Tom Foote;s house in Chattanooga, TN and the ruins of an old hotel called "The Mutiny" in Coconut Grove in Miami. Bands from The Region mostly shared (and continue to share) ideologies, band members and much more. I don't want to define it too much because it's not mine to define. It's ever-shifting and belongs to the punks of the southeast. Don't think about it too much. Just close your mind.
   The songs were compiled by Iggy using (I'm sure) the cheapest of equipment and the barest of essentials. The same could be said for many of the bands recording their songs. The music was dubbed onto tapes stolen from chain stores and distributed through the US by touring bands, traveling kids, punk post, and a couple of small distributors. I remember getting 10 of these in the mail from Iggy and they were all snatched up by the punks in my town within a couple of hours. I don't even have a copy of this anymore.

   I did a sequel to this comp three years later, which you can find right here. This comp was originally posted on Region Rock and More, (so you can ask him why all the songs are weirdly numbered and out of order) but is no longer available there since Megaupload was shut down by the feds. I wanted to keep it around and easy to access, in case people want to hear it. It's an important document in the history of southeastern punk rock. This is for Forrest Haye, Andrew Ross Powell, Chris Cottie, Brian Turd, Victor Wiley, Mike O'Brien and any other winners we've lost along the way.

DOWNLOAD///Updated July 2013

 





STUN GUNS - Live on WNYU - Tape - 1995

STUN GUNS live at Churchill's in Miami. Photo by ??

   This very recording right here, which is legendary and almost mythical in my mind, is one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place. When I was typing the words to the first or second post ever, I thought "I have to get a hold of that live STUN GUNS tape and make a good digital copy of it one day." My good friend, Erick Lyle was kind enough to mail it across the country, along with 30-40 other tapes that are on loan to me for a bit. If you're as happy as I am about this, be sure to buy the man a coffee the next time you see him. Enough about that....let's get the stories rolling. Here is what George Kelley, the bass player of the STUN GUNS had to say about this time in the band's history.

  "This would have been in August, 1995 towards the end of a nine week tour with the almighty SHAFFERS from Chattanooga. Considering that it was eight people traveling together for over two months and doing all sorts of destructive things to themselves, I don't think there's one person in either band who wouldn't have called it an amazing experience. I sure would.

   We had our fair share of fucked up shows on that tour (it wouldn't have been the STUN GUNS otherwise) but we nailed it a lot too. A day or two after the WNYU show, we had a gig in Manhattan - I think it was called the Gnat Club - that I still think was our best performance ever. We were just super tight at that point, at least when we could stand up.

   So, this would be a little slice of that time. Probably equal parts sloppy and inspired with a little Paul (Enema) Lecours cursing on-air to drive the staff nuts, too. But we genuinely loved what we were doing and loved each other, too. And not a day goes by that I don't miss Andrew Ross Powell and wish that he was still here."

STUN GUNS in Alabama in 1996. Photo by me.

   Erick Lyle has always been a big supporter, friend and archivist of the STUN GUNS since day one. It is because of his tape comp "Technical Difficulties From Day One" that I ever heard the amazing live version of "Revolution Sound" from this recording (the same goes for many, many other people). This is his take on this era of the STUN GUNS and the southern punk of the mid-90's...

    "This is the closest thing to a foundational moment as survives today for what is now popularly called "The Region". Sure, Eric Nelson's band, AUDACITY came to Miami from Dalton, GA to play with CHICKENHEAD in 1992. Sure, Andrew Powell (STUN GUNS drummer) actually went to live in Dalton and went on tour with THE SHAFFERS in 1993. But the real unity began in summer 1995 when Miami's STUN GUNS and Dalton's SHAFFERS embarked on an ill-advised, over-ambitious, yet now legendary 3 month tour of the United States. With almost no shows and no money, this rolling blackout was quickly joined by THE HOOKERS - a proto-SPAWN SACS of Michigan / Miami wildness. The three bands simply showed up and lived for days in punk houses across the country from Lansing, MI to Portland, OR to the roof of NYC's ABC No Rio, closing countless minds as well as their own, forever, along the way. THE SHAFFERS attempted to record in Lansing, but Eric's voice was blown and they never liked the recordings. This trip to WNYU with Region ally and Yonkers legend Joey I, is the best surviving recording of the band (SHAFFERS) and includes some of the best STUN GUNS material too. Accidentally amazing, transcendent, hilarious and simply the best!"

   For those of you in the dark, the STUN GUNS were a Miami punk band that were around for a good chunk of the 90's who delivered catchy punk that was equally inspired by melodic punk, Goodfellas, and the hard living of Miami. Paul Enema would sling out off-the-cuff one liners as quickly as he spit out his rapid-fire lyrics that were both bitingly cynical and tragically astute. George Kelley was always a super nice guy who seemed to be able to discuss anything with anyone and held everything together with his solid bass lines. Their guitarist, Buddha was and still is one of the best guitarists I have ever heard in my life. Andrew Ross Powell is still one of the most inspirational drummers (and people) I've ever seen or heard. Just being in the same room with him felt electric and exciting sometimes. His absence from this world is palpable and uncomfortable at times. Along with hundreds of other people around the world, I will always feel a strange vacancy in this punk scene without Andrew in it. I hope he's resting in peace somehow...or at least putting lotion in his foot-long devil-lock, writing a 43 chord song on the guitar and playing the drums like a man possessed in an alternate reality. RIP forever and always.

One of the many reasons Andrew was such an inspiration to me is because he put everything he had into his every performance. Here he is seen playing bass for KLS at a show where he broke 3 strings on the bass within 2-3 songs. Photo by Josie.

Download STUN GUNS

Updated 2013

...and if you're wondering, "soooo...where's the SHAFFERS stuff?", it will be posted tomorrow.

Thanks to Maximum Rock N Roll for letting me use their superior digitizing equipment for this tape so I could get the best quality possible and for all the hard work they've been doing with their magazine since 1977....and for bailing me out of jail in 2002.

OH!!  I ALMOST FORGOT...You can still order the outstanding STUN GUNS LP from Do Ya Hear We!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

No new downloads today. Just this video. In a perfect world, this would accompany a dictionary definition of punk (if that dictionary was somehow a video and not a large book)...and then CHICKENHEAD would rip up that dictionary and set it on fire.

BITCHIN' - "A Taste For the Rock in the Night" - Tape - 2000

   BITCHIN' started as a 4-piece in Gainesville, FL sometime around the turn of the century and they quickly went into the studio to record these six songs that later appeared on two 7 inches. On a bad night, BITCHIN' was still better than most live bands at that time, but on a good night, they were untouchable. Singer/guitarist Sam was (and still is) a guitar wizard whose passion for performing was palpable and infectious. Watching her sing whole songs and play complicated guitar shit with her eyes closed the whole time would give me chills. The rest of the band were no slouches either. I had been friends with Caroline for a couple of years and didn't really know that she could play bass, but here she was ruling it and making me envious of her solid style. Their drummer Todd was so laid back that I thought that there was no way that he could actually be good, but he definitely proved me wrong by bashing the shit out of the drums and throwing in some beats that I had never even thought about. I never saw them play with Kobi (their 2nd guitarist on this tape), but I don't think she played with them for very long and had quit shortly after this tape was recorded. All six of these songs are fukkin' great with my favorites being "Utilizing" and their anthem, which brings back pleasant memories of punks clamoring around the mic and raising their fists while screaming "Little babayyyyyAAYYYYYYYY!!"

BITCHIN' playing in a garage at the Chattanooga Punk Fest in 2000. Photo by Brontez.

   OH..I just remembered this....(you can just skip down to the "download" portion of this entry if you want to skip the fuckin' nostalgia trip). One of the best times I ever saw BITCHIN' was in Gainesville at 4 or 5 am. Earlier in the night, there had been a huge LEATHERFACE show and at the end of their set, Frankie Stubbs announced on stage that BITCHIN' and some other bands were going to be playing a house show across town. That's all fine and everything except the house show was in a room the size of my bedroom and he just told a couple hundred people about it. Anyhow, the street in front of the house filled up with people drinking and milling around waiting for the show. Luckily, most of the houses on the block were inhabited by punks and someone had the bright idea to block off each end of the street with cars so that no one could get through. I remember a ton of punks drinking in the streets, wandering into open houses, being handed food and beers and seeing a cop drive by looking totally helpless and then shrugging and leaving. The first band didn't start until at least 4 am. Some friends and I tried to get into the house to see BITCHIN' but it was impossible. It was insanely packed wall-to-wall, so we went around the side of the house and there happened to be a window right behind the drums. I remember the window being steamed up from all the sweat and condensation. Todd opened it up and we all cheered. A bunch of us sang and danced in the yard for the whole show and I remember that a lot of people came outside to join us because they said we looked like we were having more fun than the people inside. I don't know who else played and I didn't care. BITCHIN' completely ruled the night and negated the need for any more bands to play. I stumbled back to a house and passed out as the sun was coming up. It was a great show.

Download Bitchin'

If you can find their LP on No Idea Records, get that shit. You won't regret it.

BITCHIN' and ONION FLAVORED RINGS broken down outside of Yeehaw Junction, FL. Photo by me.

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle, who would like to add that this is one of hie favorite demos of all time.

  Sam was also in RUMBLESEAT and currently plays in the band CASSETTE, who are something closer to alt-country but are no less powerful than her earlier, punker days. I saw Sam play CASSETTE songs solo in a little room once and no less than 5 people were crying. It was intense.

  Todd currently lives in Brooklyn, working on video editing and making people completely stoked by just being in the same room with him. Here is a link to some stuff he is working on.

   Caroline is currently selling off handmade and home-printed "merch" from her former band FORGETTERS to benefit Jakmel Ekspresyon in Haiti. "What is Jakmel Ekspresyon?" you ask?  Well, it is a community based arts center in Haiti that is explicitly queer and trans friendly. They have been working to rebuild a new space since the earthquake in 2010 ruined their old one and they could really use your help. I have heard many great stories about them from my friend, Ivy, who is currently in Jacmel and working with them on these rebuilding projects. If you would like to buy some of Caroline's art to benefit this, you can do it RIGHT HERE. While you're there, be sure to check out Caroline's other art on her page. It is totally worth your time. 

   If buying band merch isn't your thing and you want to just donate money directly to Jakmel Ekspesyon, you can do that on their IndieGoGo Page. If you want to learn more about their community based arts center, click on over to their official site and their working group. Wait...you have more money to donate? Cool, then you should throw that towards the International Folklore Exchange Project, which also benefits Haiti, a community in real need of your help.

   Thanks!

THE BREAKUPS - Tape - 1999

   THE BREAKUPS formed in the late 90's in Gainesville, FL when Scott and Timmy (both formerly of LOS CANADIANS) got together to flesh out the wealth of acoustic songs that they had written together. Their drummer, Iggy would hop freight trains up from Miami (where he was staying at the time) for band practice. Between the three of them, the music sounds like a gentle fight between their musical influences: Scott probably desperately wanted to play power-pop while Timmy's bass lines soar off into the stratosphere, stretching the boundaries of each song. All the while, Iggy's steady, breakneck drumming kept it firmly planted in the warm confines of punk. Two of these songs appeared on the Fuck The Curse compilation back in 2000 and the other ones were only passed around through mixtapes and trades. Their song "Battle of the Hopeless Crushes" will sound familiar to fans of Region Rock, since it was also played a few years later by Iggy's band, THE HORRIBLE ODDS. It may sound familiar to others since JAPANTHER covered it and it is being touted throughout the internet as the single for their new LP with absolutely no mention that they had nothing to do with writing that song. What's up with that shit?! Anyhow, this tape is excellent.

Download THE BREAKUPS

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle.
Also, this is the 100th post on here. Thanks for reading and listening so far.

IGGY SCAM - "79th Street Radio" - Tape - 1998

    Iggy Scam has been self-publishing his zine, SCAM since 1991. It tends to focus on the underbelly of society: the underprivileged, the downtrodden, the folks sleeping in the doorways, the freaks and the punks...and it treats them with dignity and respect. It has consistently been one of my favorite zines since I first encountered SCAM #2, which was bigger than the telephone directory of the town where I grew up.
    Iggy appeared on NPR's "This American Life" on Lil' Bobby Hutton Day in 1998, reading his story "79th Street Radio". It chronicles the mystery and wonder of stumbling across a pirate radio station in North Miami and trying to figure out its origins; trying to find the story behind the story. It conjures up images of lonely boulevards at 3am, old rusting cars, and a time in Miami that may be nonexistent in the near future. It's good listening and helps me to remember why I love radio...not the pop stations, but the crackly AM country, the Coast To Coast weirdness, the things you stumble across in the middle of Wyoming and of course, pirate radio.

Download 79th Street Radio

   In the mid-00's, Iggy Scam changed his name back to Erick Lyle and continues to write SCAM. In addition to this, he has contributed articles to SF's Bay Guardian, written articles for many zines and authored the book On The Lower Frequencies, which chronicles years of activism and struggle in SF during the dot-com boom and the ensuing era of living in a world that does not want poor people to exist. He is currently working on a new book and a collaborative art show in SF that is sure to blow some minds.